초록 |
Cartilage tissue engineering aims to promote the chondrogenic functions and the cartilage regeneration using isolated chondrocytes with a proper scaffold. This approach requires a large number of cells to achieve functional tissue. However, prolonged monolayer culture of chondrocytes leads to de-differentiation of cells. Hydrogels are promising candidates for re-differentiation of de-differentiated chondrocytes because of their high water content and non-cell adhesive nature, mimicking the natural cartilage tissue. In this study, heparin-based hydrogel was used for three-dimensional culture of various chondrocytes, isolated from rabbits, dogs, and pigs. Characteristics of re-differentiation, proliferation and GAG products were compared for different species. This work was supported by NRF and MEST at GIST, MEST, Korea. |